OK, but I don't agree with your example. I'd argue that with either
definition that the page with links and background audio is multimedia.
Only the author can verify whether the audio is synchronized or not, so
this may not be very testable.
The page might be low-tech multimedia, but it should be evaluated by an
author to determine whether captions or descriptions are needed because
of the audio.
AWK
________________________________
From: w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org
[mailto:w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of Gregg Vanderheiden
Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 9:00 PM
To: w3c-wai-gl@w3.org
Subject: RE: multimedia definition
Hi Andrew,
Your And/Or is a good edit. But the word "Synchronized" is
important or else a page with links (interaction) combined with an audio
playing in the background would be multimedia - and that is not our
intent. It is only if the audio is synchronized with the interaction
(the interaction has to take place at a certain time in the audio
presentation) that it qualifies. Ditto with audio and graphics unless
the graphic presentation is synchronized with the audio.
So incorporating your 'and/or" edit we end up with
Multimedia:
Content that includes one type of time dependent media (e.g.
audio or video) synchronized with interactive elements and/or with
another type of media (e.g. text, audio, graphics, or video)
Gregg
-- ------------------------------
Gregg C Vanderheiden Ph.D.
Professor - Ind. Engr. & BioMed Engr.
Director - Trace R & D Center
University of Wisconsin-Madison
________________________________
From: Andrew Kirkpatrick [mailto:akirkpat@adobe.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 7:07 PM
To: John M Slatin; Gregg Vanderheiden; w3c-wai-gl@w3.org
Subject: RE: multimedia definition
suggested change:
Content that includes one type of time dependent media
(e.g. audio or video) combined with interactive elements and/or with
another type of media (e.g. text, audio, graphics, or video)
"synchronized" seems awkward so I put 'combined' to
genericize it one notch. I made the 'or' an 'and/or' since both are
possible.
Other than that it sounds good to me (and these are
pretty nit-picky).
awk
________________________________
From: w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org
[mailto:w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of John M Slatin
Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 7:05 PM
To: John M Slatin; Gregg Vanderheiden;
w3c-wai-gl@w3.org
Subject: RE: multimedia definition
Gregg and I took our discussion off-list for a
while and hammered out a definition of multimedia we think will work:
<proposed>
One type of time dependent media (e.g. audio or
video) synchronized with interaction or with another type of media (e.g.
text, audio, graphics, or video)
</proposed>
If everyone can live with this, it will replace
the current definition in the Glossary (below):
<blockquote>
For the purposes of these guidelines, multimedia
refers to combined audio and video presentations. It also includes
audio-only and video-only presentations
that include interaction.
</blockquote>
John
"Good design is accessible design."
Dr. John M. Slatin, Director
Accessibility Institute
University of Texas at Austin
FAC 248C
1 University Station G9600
Austin, TX 78712
ph 512-495-4288, fax 512-495-4524
email jslatin@mail.utexas.edu
Web <http://www.ital.utexas.edu/>
http://www.utexas.edu <http://www.utexas.edu/research/accessibility>
/research/accessibility
-----Original Message-----
From: w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org
[mailto:w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of John M Slatin
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2005 1:53 PM
To: Gregg Vanderheiden;
w3c-wai-gl@w3.org
Subject: RE: multimedia definition
Gregg,
The first phrase in the proposed
definition (both yours and mine) is:
<q>Several different media,</q>
So even if people believe that
"interactive audio" is one medium and "audio" is a different medium,
we're covered by that first phrase.
Here it is again:
<proposed>
Several different media, including at
least one time based media type, integrated in a single presentation.
Media may include text, audio (including interactive
audio), graphics, and video (including
interactive video).
</proposed>
Or people might be more comfortable with
the following:
<slightRevision>
Two or more different media, including
at least one time based media type, integrated in a single presentation.
Media may include text, audio, including interactive
audio, graphics, video,and interactive
video.
</slightRevision>
I'd prefer to put interactive audio and
interactive video in parentheses, as in the first version above. But I
like starting with "Two or more different media " since it clearly
covers the most common multimedia format, i.e., video plus a soundtrack
("several" usually means more than 2 ...). So here's one more try:
<oneMoreTry>
Two or more different media, including
at least one time based media type, integrated in a single presentation.
Media may include text, audio (including interactive
audio), graphics, and video (including
interactive video).
</oneMoreTry>
John
"Good design is accessible design."
Dr. John M. Slatin, Director
Accessibility Institute
University of Texas at Austin
FAC 248C
1 University Station G9600
Austin, TX 78712
ph 512-495-4288, fax 512-495-4524
email jslatin@mail.utexas.edu
Web <http://www.ital.utexas.edu/>
http://www.utexas.edu <http://www.utexas.edu/research/accessibility>
/research/accessibility
-----Original Message-----
From: Gregg Vanderheiden
[mailto:gv@trace.wisc.edu]
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2005 1:00 PM
To: John M Slatin; w3c-wai-gl@w3.org
Subject: RE: multimedia definition
Interesting
But if interactive audio is media then
it isn't multimedia. And according to our definition (or what we
thought needed to be covered by multimedia) interactive audio or
interactive video needed to be in there.....
So we would have to rewrite all our
guidelines to say "Multimedia and media mixed with interaction."
Oops that doesn't work.
It would have to be "Multimedia and
time based media mixed with interaction."
Or
"Multimedia and video or audio mixed
with interaction."
Hmm. Hard to parse the ands and ors
I think we need to keep interaction in
multimedia.
It goes back to the list form which is a
terrible format for definitions but....
Multimedia
audio or video synchronized with
interactivity or another media type including text, images, (video),
(audio), etc.
OR
Multimedia
A time based media (such as video or
sound) synchronized with interactivity or another media type including
text, images, video, audio, etc.
Gregg
-- ------------------------------
Gregg C Vanderheiden Ph.D.
Professor - Ind. Engr. & BioMed Engr.
Director - Trace R & D Center
University of Wisconsin-Madison
________________________________
From: w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org
[mailto:w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of John M Slatin
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2005 12:41 PM
To: Gregg Vanderheiden;
w3c-wai-gl@w3.org
Subject: RE: multimedia definition
Gregg responded to my proposed rewrite
of the multimedia definition:
<blockquote>
Actually the interactivity as a medium
came from Wikipedia.
I thought that was interesting because
it is necessary as a media for our definition as well.
Interactive audio for example is
considered multimedia. And it consists of audio and interaction.
</blockquote>
I'd be fine with listing "interactive
audio" and "interactive video" as separate media.
It makes me nervous to treat Wikopedia
as an authoritative source, precisely because it advertises itself as
"the encyclopedia that can be edited by anyone."
The Wikopedia definition of "multimedia"
links to an article on "interactivity"
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactivity) which is flagged as needing
work. What's there now does not describe interactivity as a medium.
So here's a modified version of the
rewrite I proposed:
<newProposal>
Several different media, including at
least one time based media type, integrated in a single presentation.
Media may include text, audio (including interactive audio), graphics,
and video (including interactive video).
</newProposal>
I deleted the third sentence from my
previous proposal since interactivity is now incorporated into the list
of media types.
I also deleted animation from the list
of multimedia types since our definition of "video" (accepted 8
December) includes animation. But it wouldn't bother me to include it
explicitly here if people want to do that.
John